Sectional door



E. C. FOX ET AL SECTIONAL DOOR Nov. 6, 1951 s Sheets-Sheefl Filed May 25, 1949 m m w w SECTIONAL DOOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 25, 1949 ,M I 2 9 2 a 7 a 2; an l w 5 a I. a Mr. 2 6 5 m 2 E. C. FOX ET AL SECTIONAL DOOR Nov. 6, 195] 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 25, 1949 IHIIHI Q \\m I ATTORNEY Patented N v. 6, 1951 zsnssz.

SECTIONAL DOOR Earl 0. Fox and Russell 0. Strohacker,

. Coshocton, Ohio Application May25, 1949, Serial No. 95,324

This invention relates :to overhead sectional 'doors and tracks therefor, of the type which are closed when vertical, may be lifted into a horizontal overhead position, when they are open, and may assume various intermediate positions. Such doors are particularly'useful in garages or other buildings using manually controlled doors.

This application is a continuation-in-part of our abandoned application Serial Number 781,292 filed'October 22, 1947, for improvements in Sec tional Doors.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a trackway for sectional doors which may be installed in garages where the ceiling is at approximately the same level as thetop of the door Opening, thus conserving space when building or avoiding remodeling costs in already built structures.

Another feature of our invention resides in the provision of a construction facilitating removing the rollers and/or hinges with which the door sections may be equipped.

Another object is to provide means in the form of a reversely curvedtrack to guide the bottom of the door down into the main vertical track when closing the door, or to guide other rollers down into the main verticaltrack, should these rollers be put in certain positions.

1 Another advantage of our construction is the prevention of backlash due to the action of the counterbalance.

Another object is to provide a door which may be partly opened, either at the top alone like a transom or at the bottom alone to provide ventilation: a feature of much importance in hot climates or hot weather anywhere or where dampness is prevalent in the garage or building.

Other objects and advantageswill be pointed out or may be readily inferred from the following description of a. preferred embodiment of the invention shown in the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification.

In said drawings- Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a sectional door in accordance with our invention, the door being shown closed; 7

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectionthrough the closed door of Fig. 1;

Fig-3 is a sectional view generally like Fig. 2 'but on a smaller scale and with portions broken away, showing the door slightly raised and with its top section inclined inwardly as at the start of the door opening operation;

Fig. 4 is a similar view on a slightly larger scale,

showing in dotted lines the bottom door section 7 Claims. (01.160-214 in one position of the opening movement and showing'the samedoor section in full lines in the fully open position;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but showing the door in lowered position with the top section inclined inwardly just prior to final closing movement; 7

Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are respectively cross sections on lines 6-B, l'! and 8 -8 of Fig, 2;

Fig. 9 is a detail in perspective of the corner section of the trackway;

Fig. 10 is a view generally like Fig. 1 but showing the door so designed that the top section may be swung inwardly ilke a transom to aflord ventilation, the bottom section being however all the way down and the door as a whole being locked, or capable of being'locked; and

Fig. 11 is a view of the door of Fig. 10 shown slightly elevated to provide top ventilation, the bottom of the door being down and locked, or capable of being locked.

Referring to the drawings, the door opening is indicated at l0, having a sill portion l I and a, top portion I2. The opening is of rectangular shape and leads to an interior, which may be a garage or other room, or may be the interior of any building.

The door opening i0 is equipped with a sectional door I 3 which, when in vertical position, completely closes the door opening, and when in raised position leaves the opening substantially unencumbered except for the thickness of the door which practically on a level with the top of the door opening. As shown, the door comprises a plurality of sections l4, l5, l6 and I1 suitably hinged together and provided with pairs of rollers including a lower'pair I8 [8 at the bottom of the section l4, and an upper pair l8", l8 at the top of the upper section I1, and intermediate pairs of rollers I8, I8 at the three intermediate points.

The rollers are adapted to coact with vertical and horizontal trackways l9, l9 and 20, 20 respectively, the latter being mounted near the ceiling 2!, and with connecting corner sections or roller-guiding members 22, 22 located intermediate the vertical and horizontal trackways and interconnecting such trackways. These corner sections include various features of novelty distinguishing the present device from the prior art as known to us.

It will be understood that the main vertical trackways l9, l9 are mounted at opposite sides of thedoor frame, and similarly the horizontal trackways 20, 20 are mounted at spaced intervals near the ceiling. The tops of the vertical trackways terminate short of the top of the door opening I!) and the ends of the horizontal trackways 20, 28 terminate short of the opening ill so as to allow room for the connecting corner sections or roller-guiding members 22, 22.

As shown, a pair of such corner sections are secured in any suitable manner at the upper portions of'the-door opening intermediate the vertical and horizontal trackways IQ and '28. As shown, each corner section 22 comprises a flat plate 23 substantially in the form of a right angle triangle with a curved hypotenuse. The upperportion of the corner section is provided. with a horizontal track portion 25 connecting'ataone end with the main horizontal trackway 23, and

closed at the other end 26 substantiallyinline with the upper end of the correspondingvertical trackway IS. The corn-er section also includes a track section 21, curved upwardly from the bottom of the corner. section and inwardly from the door opening l9,=-which connects thetop of the vertical trackway IS with the end of'the. horizontal trackway'20. Intermediate the ends 28 and 29 of this curved tracksection is-a reversely curved track portion 38 which terminates-at the closure 26, said closure 26 providing-astop for the door ineitherits raised or lowered position. The reversely curved" track'portion 30 extends in a line generally at right angles to a tangent to the curve of the arcuatelycurvedroller-guiding element2'l, but is-"spa'ced at its lowerend from element?! to permit a roller to pass therebetween, andthen is curved concentrically with but spaced from the arcuately curved element, such space permitting rollers to roll therebetween.

The door may be counterbalanced in whole or in'part'by a tension springor springs 35 which may bezsuitablyhoused adjacent the ceiling 2! and has one end connected to a fixed frame portion (not shown) and the othergend connected to a sheave 3.2 about which is passed ahoisting rope 33,.0ne end of which is anchored at 34 while theotherendpasses over a:fixed pulley BA and is secured to the bottomof the lowermostsection Hlof'the'door.

Operation The door is shown in closed position in Figs. 1 and 2 in which it will be noted that all sections are inthe same vertical plane .,an-d the rollers 18 at the upper end of the'top section ll are at the junction of the horizontal'track portion25 and the reversely 'curved track portion 33 'of' the corner section and are in contact with the stops 2%. The .track elements adjacent stops 26 obviously form a recess 'for the rollers. The door is held in this position by the'tension spring '3l acting through theholding cord 33. The door is retained in this position without any tendency-to buckle'or depart from the vertical position.

To open the door the top section I! may be shoved manually away from the door opening it to the inclined position shown in Fig. 3, whereupon the leading sections of the door may be moved to horizontal position under the action of the tension spring '3! (aided if need be by manual power) until the door reaches the position shown in dotted lines inFig. 4' with the rear section 14 inclined downwardly and-the rollers l8 at the entrance to the reversely curved track portion 30. After reaching this position the section I! will be moved to the-full line position with the rollers [8 abutting the stops 25. at thejunction of the trackways 25 and 3il;under the operation of the tension spring.

To lower the door the section [4 is pulled downwardly along the reverse curve 30 and is then pulled down until the bottom of the lowermost section [4 engages the sill of the. door opening. When in this position the top section I! will at first be in the inclined position shown in Fig. 5, but by pushing out on the top of the door section II the rollers [8 may be brought into engagement' 'with the stops 26;atthe juncture of the track portions 25 and :3fl, at which position the door is fully closed and latched in vertical posi- 1 tion.

area. Azboundedlby the track portions 2?, 25 and '30. By bringing the rollers of any section into this area the rollers and the corresponding hinges'b'ecome accessible to an operator within thefroom area and may be removed for repair,

oiling, or the like.

While the horizontalportion of the 1 track is shown as nearly one -levelwith the topof ,the door opening, it could be below the level of the top of the .door opening. The important'thing is to have the center of the horizontal: trackon -a levelwith thecenter of the two top rollers. shown i11 Fig.,2, the centers ofthe two-top rollers are slightly'lower than the top of the '1 door'or the top of the door opening. fThez-idea'is toepermit the sectional door to break without rising at all, thus making possible the transom) action previously described. 1

The reverse curve track portion SObest-shown in Fig.9 is importantbecause it co-operates with the counterbalancing spring or springs andcable when completing theopeningzof the door, the counterbalance pulling the bottom .rollers 18 back from apoint A Figs. 10 and 11 tothestop (or .open end) 26. Then the door is held open (Fig. 4), the counterbalance ..sti1l co-operating with the reverse curve trackportion 30. :Also the reversely curved track 30L. isrneeded to startthe bottom panel of the door down into' thenmainvertical track. (as may be understood bystudying-the dotted' line portion of Fig. .4 in. connection with the full lines) also to guideany .otherxrollersi if in'the position of stops (or open ends) :26. The reverse track 30 also actsto break .the' door hinges and thus keep the door .rollersimoving' intoxthe horizontal track rather than into the stops or ends 26. Finally, the reverse track 30 prevents any "backlash" due .to the counterbalance. Often in operating doors of this type, adoor'if thrown violently upwardly will bounceback'and strike the operator in the head orbody, or occasionally may even tear off the door, car or truck top. This so-called backlash is obviated -.by our construction.

While the stops 26 are desirable,;they are not necessary since the door may be stopped by strikingthe door casing, which would occur-if the stops were omitted and the endsof the tracks were left open but abutting the doorrcasing.

In the arrangement of Fig. 10,. the top. door section! I may be swung-open like a. transom to vene tilate the building, and this may be'done without lifting the door; hence the doormaybe locked to keep out intruders, dogs, etc., yet willafford circulation of air to keep thegarage frombecoming unbearably hot or damp. With the arrangement of Fig. '11, the door provides afree circulation of air, yet will keep children from playing in the doorway and will discourage attempts .at pilfering. In both Figs, 10. and ll the door isin position to be locked yetmay bereadily unlocked.

.55 Obviously ,theinvention maybe embodied in forms other than the one illustrated What we claim is: v

1. A device of the character described comprising a sectionalclosure element, rollers fixed to said closure element at thebottom and top and at the joints between the sections of the closure element, a pair of vertical trackways, track- 7 corner sections interposed between the tops of the vertical trackways and the adjacent ends of the horizontal trackways, counterbalancing means secured to the closure element, each of the track corner sections comprising a horizontal upper roller-guiding element, an arcuately curved roller-guiding element joining the vertical and horizontal trackways and being spaced from the horizontal upper roller-guiding element at one end of the corner section, and a reversely curved roller-guiding element extending from the opposite end of the corner section downwardly toward the arcuately curved roller-guiding element and at a point about midway between the ends of the arcuately curved roller-guiding element assuming a curvature which is concentric with the arcuately curved roller-guiding element and extending down to the extreme lower end of the track corner section.

2. The invention defined in claim 1, wherein the first mentioned end of the track corner section, also said opposite end of the track corner section, are both on the same level as the horizontal trackways, and said opposite end is directly above the center line or axis of the vertical trackway which joins onto the track corner sec tion, there being an unobstructed central area of substantial size on the track corner section between the horizontal upper roller-guiding element, the arcuately curved roller-guiding element, and the reversely curved roller-guiding element, said unobstructed central area making the rollers of the closure element accessible for oiling or repair by moving the closure element so as to bring the rollers into said unobstructed central area.

3. As a sub-combination, a roller-guiding member adapted to cooperate with vertical and horizontal roller traokways; said member including an upper straight horizontal roller-guiding element terminating at two opposite ends of the member; an arcuately curved roller guiding element for joining the vertical and horizontal trackways; and a reversely curved roller-guiding element extending downwardly from one end of said member in a line generally at right angles to a tangent to the curve of said arcuately curved element, and then curving downwardly until it approaches the arcuately curved element, and then being curved concentrically with but spaced from the arcuately curved element a sufiicient distance to permit rollers to roll therebetween.

4. For use with a sectional door comprising a plurality of hinged door sections, each section having laterally extending rollers, said door being movable from a vertical position in which the door completely closes a door opening to a raised or horizontal position in which the door opening is unobstructed; a pair of main vertical roller trackways adapted to be mounted on opposite sides of a door opening and terminating short of the top of the opening, a pair of main spaced horizontal roller trackways located substantially at the level of the top of the door opening but terminating short of the opening, and a pair of corner sections connecting the vertical and horizontal sections, each corner section in- ,6 cluding a curved track section connecting amain horizontal track section with; a-main vertical 'track' section, a horizontal track portion aligned with the corresponding main horizontal-track portion and terminating in a stop in vertical alignment with the corresponding'vertical track section but spaced therefrom, and a reversely curved track portion extending upwardly from a point intermediate the ends of the curved track section to said stop; said corner sections -;each having a central unobstructed area bounded by the curved, track section, the horizontaltrack portion and the reversely-curved; track portion.

,5, The combination with a sectional door comprising a plurality of hinged door sections, each section having laterally extending rollers, said door being movable from a vertical position in which the door completely closes a door opening to a raised or horizontal position in which the door opening is unobstructed; of a pair of main vertical roller trackways adapted to be mounted on opposite sides of a door opening and terminating short of the top of the opening, a pair of main spaced horizontal roller trackways located substantially at the level of the top of the door opening but terminating short of the opening, and a pair of corner sections connecting the vertical and horizontal sections, each corner section including a curved track section connecting a main horizontal track section with a main vertical track section, a horizontal track portion aligned with the corresponding main horizontal track portion and terminating in a stop in vertical alignment with the corresponding vertical rack section but spaced therefrom, and a reversely curved track portion extending from a point intermediate the ends of the curved track section upwardly to said stop, and spring means located directly above the main horizontal track portion and connected to the door for substantially counterbalancing the door.

6. In combination, a sectional hinged closure, and means permitting the closure to move from a vertical locked position to a horizontal locked position on a level approximately with the upper end of the closure when it is vertical and locked; said means including rollers arranged in pairs on opposite sides at the extreme lower end of the closure, at the extreme upper end of the closure, and at every joint of the sectional closure; said means further including a pair of vertical trackways, a pair of horizontal trackways, and a pair of track corner sections each joining a vertical trackway with a horizontal trackway; each track corner section including a horizontal roller-guiding element extending along its top from front to rear, an arcuately curved roller-guiding element extending from the lower end of the corner section to its rear end, a reversely curved rollerguiding element having its upper end near to but spaced from the horizontal roller-guiding element to provide a roller-receiving recess at the front end of the track corner section, the lower end of the reversely curved roller-guiding element extending down to a point near to but spaced from the arcuately curved roller-guiding element so that a roller may pass between said lower end and said arcuately curved roller-guiding element, said reversely curved roller-guiding elements acting to guide rollers from the upper ends of the vertical trackways into said recesses and from said recesses back into the vertical trackways or onto the arcuately curved rollerguiding element.

'7. The invention as defined in claim 6, where- 7 58 in' there aretension springs'and connectingiteler r 1 4 'me'n'ts attached'tdth'e lowerend'no'f these'c'tionail REFERENCES CITED hinged closure, the 'upper 'rollers of the hinged The fonowing references record-11112117119 closure being received in said r'e'cesses when the me of thls patent: 1 hinged closure is vertical-and closed and the ten- 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS. :sion imparted by said springs plus theshape of Number Name. 7 Date. -the reversely curved roller-guiding elements 2064470 Heckman Dec 15 1936 holding the rollers in said recesses and then se- 2,333,205 Rowe Jar'l' curing the hinged closure against movement, each of the other pairs of rollers'be'mg receivable in 10 said recesses and securing the hinged closure against movement when so received.

EARL C. FOX. RUSSELL C. STROHACKER. 

